It’s Tea Time: Happy Lemon Review

If you're looking for a different twist of Milk Tea then Happy Lemon is the place to be. They offer wide range of drink selection - Pearl Milk Tea to their Rock Salt Cheese Bestsellers, Yakult drinks and Fresh teas.

Happy Lemon is originally from Hong Kong brought in the Philippines by Chris Tiu and friends.

Before I had my first Happy Lemon I already read several good comments about their Green Tea with Rock Salt Cheese. Intrigued by how rock salt will blend to a Tea drink made me decide to order one. When I got my order I asked Kuya if I should stir my drink or not, he told me that it’s not recommended. Well true enough, you need to drink it as is because the main flavor is on the froth itself.

Green Tea with Rock and Cheese (90 Php for Large order). Must Try! 4/5

I Liked it! :) Some people might find it weird but It taste good. Sinkers (pearls/crystals) are not recommended

For those who don’t want Green Tea you may opt to try the Cocoa version for safer taste

Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese (100Php for Large order)

My friend Inah ordered Lemon Yakult, one of their bestsellers. It’s very refreshing though I’m still looking for the strong Yakult taste.

Lemon Yakult (100Php for Large order)

I hope that the next Happy Lemon branch to open will have a bigger space so you customers like us can stay longer and enjoy. 

Happy Lemon Menu:

Branches:

Promenade Greenhills

Eastwood Mall 

Smoke Resto: Boracay

Better add this to your Bora checklist :)

Eating in Boracay is not only about High end Resto, Hotel Café’s, Mang Inasal and Andok's. There’s also a cheap resto that sells good food at a very reasonable price. BTW, don’t think that SMOKE is classified as a High end resto. It is actually a typical carinderia where menu is written on a board using chalk and servers does not wear uniform either. The place is located near D’ Talipapa. Once you reach the stalls selling veggies it’s a sign that you’re near the place.

The Menu:

Our Order:

Sizzling Bulalo – a different way to serve Pinoy Cardiac delight favorite Bulalo. Apart from a typical Bulalo, this dish does not have overflowing broth. Instead it is served on a sizzling plate with thick sauce and fried garlic. Worth it for 180 Php and good for 4-5 persons.

Spicy Garlic Kangkong – This is the fieriest amongst our order. The dish was good but could even taste better if not too spicy. So better tell Manong that you prefer the mild version so you can really enjoy your order. So sulit for 70 Php.

Buttered Veggies – worth 75 pesos. Composed of Carrots, Chayote and Baguio Beans.

SMOKE is a good alternative to common restos found in the Island. 

But wait don’t do this too often be kind to your heart and you liver. Remember health is wealth *wink wink*

Overall rating:

Food: 4/5

Value for Money: 4/5

(5 - Highest; 1 – lowest)

Ma Mon Luk Restaurant

A plan to roam around streets of Binondo-Quiapo-Intramuros area to eat streets foods was being planned when we remembered Ma Mon Luk. I’ve known Ma Mon Luk during elementary days. He was the example on entrepreneurship section of our journal.  What I remember about him is that he sells his signature Mami and Siopao and a very industrious man. Personally I’ve known about this Mami house way back but I haven’t visited any of its stores.

According to my research there is a branch in Quiapo and in Quezon City. We visited the Quiapo branch.  The restaurant is located along Quezon Blvd. (the street where Quiapo Church is located) not more than 300m from the Church (wow na nasukat?!)

Articles about the store is everywhere. I’ve capture a very nice article about Mr. Ma – President Quirino told Anding Roces these lines in Ilocano (so that Mr. Ma wouldn’t understand) – “Now, here is a true friend.” “Im no longer in power but he still visits me.” That was the time when President Quirino lost the election to Ramon Magsaysay. Mr. Ma was their visiting the ex president with a basket of Lychees. Nice! :)

Here is the glimpse of the restaurant, typical Mami house.

Chairs and tables are available as well as long table on the side with high chairs.

The Menu:

Our Order:

Special Mami – topped with chicken breast, pork and spring onions. The Mami was ok. I was actually expecting a more powerful taste out of the soup   Not on a friendly price. Forgot to ask the server if they manufacture their own noodle.

Sang Yuk Pao (Bola Bola Siopao) for me – composed of pork, red eggs and spring onions. Big serving. The Pao itself is very heavy on the stomach. 

Asado for Sis

Siomai – Our last order was the Siomai (2 pc/40 php).  These two might look small but might be equivalent to minimum of 5 pcs of a regular siomai.

Busog na busog na hapon. We thought our order is enough. It's actually more than enough. Ma Mon Luk = BUSOG!!! :)

Overall rate:

Food: 3/5

Value for Money: 4/5 – a bit expensive for Mami.

It’s Tea Time: Bubble Tea Review

Disclaimer: This is my compilation my Bubble tea visit. Chill Time, Meeting, chitchat and tambay mode

I was just introduced to Bubble Tea last April when (remember my previous entry? :)) me and my friends ate at Sugarleaf. I am not that much of a Milk Tea addict. Not until I tried this one.

Their stores are cute. The ceilings are patterned from round shapes which represent their bubbles.

You can choose from couch or typical chairs and tables. You can also have it the Japanese way by sitting on the floor – most of the time students are seated here.

They don’t have a wide variety of Milk Tea selection. But they also offer milk shakes and other fruity drinks. 

Got a chance of visiting their Wilson Branch about four times and once on Morato branch, these are my orders with my personal rating:

Royal Milk Tea – 5/5 their best seller

Also my personal favourite

 Japanese Green Milk Tea – 5/5

Typical taste of Green tea, just like Starbucks’ Green Tea frappe. But I liked it though :)

Taro Milk Tea – 4/5

It was good. I got this from their promo (10 Stamps = 1 Large Mile Tea for Free)

Last: Almond Milk Tea - 3/5. Not really my favorite.

  

Aside from Milk Tea they also serve Japanese food and pastries. Though a bit pricey their serving is huge. Example their Vancouver Roll for 285 pesos is good for 3-4 persons.

I like the Okonomiyaki Pizza. Sweet and Salty. Comes with veggie mix on the side

Rice meals are also available. I ordered the Osaka BBQ Ribs with Rice. My order was very fatty.

The Japanese Caesar was good. The fruits and veggies are fresh.

My colleagues order:

Grilled Chicken Curry (225 Php) – typical chicken curry

Yakiniku Beef Rice (245 Php)  – I liked this more than my Osaka BBQ ribs. The beef was nicely flavored.

Chicken Teriyaki Doria (245 Php) – looks like chicken ala King for me.  

Going back to their Milk Team, though they have limited flavors they still offer best Milk Tea’s specially the Royal Milk Tea. The serving looks a bit ‘bitin’ but actually one large order can you feel full. 

This place is best for chill time. Can be alternative for Coffee shops. 

Notes:

Parking: limited slots only

Reservation: No need (but for big groups like 6 I suggest to call them ahead)

Smoking Area: Yes

Nice CR: Very Clean

Service Charge: None :)

Branches:

Wilson St. Greenhills, San Juan

Tomas Morato Ave. Quezon City. Beside Alfredo 

SM North Edsa the Block

SM Megamall 

Clean and Green: Sugar Leaf Review

Green is definitely in! :)

I’m a veggie lover. I eat almost all veggies except for okra and bulalak ng katuray (my father always prepares this at home).

Sugarleaf has a lot to offer – soup, sandwich, salad, pasta, snack, desserts and healing juices made from pure ingredients, you can really taste the difference from normal fruit juices.

So let’s start, what Sugarleaf has:

Soup: One serving is enough for 2-3 people if you are not too hungry and willing to wait for the rest of your order

The only available soups that day are the following:

Spinach soup – the soup was made from pure spinach thus it’s really bitter. So green and leafy.

Squash with Orange – I like this better than the spinach soup. You can really eat bits of crunchy squash.

Sandwich: We really ordered different types sandwich so we can have a taste of each one of them (hehehe). Btw, their sandwiches are very nice. Though I was not able to check if they also sell bread.

Turkey Waldorf (150 Php) – this is the best seller amongst us. This is made of turkey with red apple bits, cinnamon and lettuce in Raisin Bagel.

Free-Range Chicken (120 Php) – According to the store manager Ms. Gina the chicken used here are fed with nothing but organic food. The sandwich includes green apple bit, lettuce with sugarleafs signature dressing.

Smoked Blue Marlin (180 Php) and Smoked Norweigan Salmon (260 Php) – they are both prepared with alfalfa, lettuce and tomatoes with vinegariette dressing. I like the Smoked Salmon compared to the Smoked Blue Marlin Sandwich (bias? Heheh that’s my order kasi). You can savor Salmon’s distinct taste plus I like the crunchy veggies on it.

Salads: I LOVE their Salad!!! It’s fresh, it’s light, its clean and definitely cholesterol free. We had 2 orders of salad. The one with the Garden Salad with Sugarleafs own dressing and the other one is Green Salad with red eggs and tomatoes.

Healing Juices: I call it the power juice. Power because you will surely get all the nutrients from the fruits.

Detox – my personal choice. It has apple, grapefruit, watermelon and ginger. The ginger dominates the taste. But when you reach halfway of the glass you will taste the other remaining fruits. Though my friends didn’t like it I still like my order though. For the reason that the ingredients is for detoxification hehehe

Well Being – for general health. Made from Banana, Orange, Strawberry, Apple and mint. This is the most recommended juice. It’s sweet and very refreshing.

Liver Cleans – Made from Pineapple, Carrot, Sugarbeet and lime. This is recommended for those who love to drink alcoholic drinks. Like the well being juice this juice is also recommended, no ‘Alien’ taste.

Dessert: We ordered Apple Pie and Ebun Buro Sorbet.

We liked the apple pie; it has the right sweetness and creaminess.

But the Ebun Buro Sorbet was the best! Yes! The ice cream was made with salted egg. We asked for one order since we know that we are already full. One order has 3 scoops. We ended asking for one more round hehehe.

Aside from the salad they also offer some pasalubong and other healthy treats.

Btw, I bought their Organic Salted Duck Egg though a bit expensive (20 php each) you can taste the difference with the normal red eggs in the market. 

The place was not too big nor too small so if you want to visit sugar leaf it’s better to call them ahead so they can reserve seats for you. It’s also recommended to place you order ahead of time since they will prepare everything upon order.

The Menu:

The store manager/owner Miss Gina was very accommodating. She cheerfully answers our questions and she even gave us some sample of Kefir dip (which btw, taste good on the salad).

You can also visit their website to check on their menu: http://www.sugarleafph.com/

Sugarleaf is located at G/F Health Cube Building, 226 Wilson Street, West Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines 1502 (between BDO and Kink Cakes)